Tales of Ba Sing Se: Jin
by Canbya
Summary: The story of Ba Sing Se after the fall seen through the eyes of Jin.


_The Avatar is dead. _Those words traversed the great city of Ba Sing Se quicker than a wild fire in the outer Earth Kingdom. _The war is over. It's over._ These too spread through the city sinking in the depths of homes from the wealthiest Upper Ring to the most desperate refugees in the Lower Ring. As the invading Fire Nation Army walked past her meager dwelling, Jin looked on from the sole window in her dingy room. Tears leaked through her eyes. The safest place had fallen at long last. There was no escape from the Fire Nation now.

* * *

A week had passed since the fall of Ba Sing Se. More rumors descended upon the captive city. _The Fire Nation Princess and Prince along with the Dai Li captured the Five Generals. Together they defeated the Avatar and his Water Bending teacher. There's no hope now._ In addition to the flurry of rumors, the disappearances began. People vanished without a trace. One day they were fine, the next they were gone. There was never a sign of a struggle.

Jin was worried. Lee and his uncle were gone. Their new tea shop in the Upper Ring was abandoned. She had only seen it once since the fall. Tables were overturn. Shards of shattered cups strewn the floor. The windows were broken. The walls scorched. Why had the Fire Nation wrecked a place of harmony? What had Lee or his uncle done to anger the Fire Nation? So many questions filled her as she stood in the semi dark room.

Never before had she been so afraid, not even has her home had burned around her before she came to Ba Sing Se. Then she still had her parents and her brother. Then they had a place to come. Now she had no one. Her mother had been taken before the fall by the Dai Li for speaking of the war. Her brother marched away when he shouted, 'Tyranny!' at the invading military. And now her father was missing - one day he was there, and the next he was gone. Lee was gone, and she had no idea where to even start looking.

She quickly left, using back alleys to find her way back into the Lower Ring. When she returned to her room, she met the deep green eyes of her land lady.

'Destiny is a funny thing,' the lady told her kindly, when Jin told her she had no money to pay this month's rent. 'You have suffered much. Do not worry about rent, you are not a burden.'

'Thank you, but those words sound familiar,' Jin replied trying to remember where she had heard them before. Then she remembered. 'Lee's uncle once said them.'

'Yes he would,' her landlady said mysteriously. 'Now why don't you get some sleep.'

'I hope that they're okay,' Jin said sadly as she climbed the stairs.

'I do, too,' the lady replied as she fondled a White Lotus Pai Sho piece.

* * *

Two months had passed since the fall of Ba Sing Se. Life had fallen into a pattern of regularity, something to cling on to. The disappearances had slowed down. Citizens were left alone so long as they obeyed the numerous laws that were now enforced. No bending. No one out after dark. All people must pay heavy taxes. There were also numerous check points between the Rings keeping strict order. Papers were now needed to leave and enter from one section to another.

Last week during the Day of Black Sun some remaining Earth Benders had attempted to take advantage of the weakened Fire Benders, but they were far outnumbered. The rebellion was short lived and all had been captured. Jin watched the spectacle from her bedroom window. For eight minutes the Earth Benders held their own, then the sun returned and there was no hope. Thankfully the Fire Nation decided not to take actions against the citizens who sat and did nothing. Thankfully that the Fire Nation had shown mercy, however small.

Oddly enough new rumors descended. _The Avatar lives. The water bender saved him using Spirit Water. A group attacked the Fire Nation capital and nearly succeeded but they were tricked. Most were captured except for eight including the Avatar. There is hope. _These rumors were dangerous. Anyone caught with this gossip was taken away. Yet even the Fire Nation was powerless to stop news from traveling. _The Fire Nation prince has disappeared. The prince has gone to help the Avatar. _The traitor prince was a fiercely debated subject. Was he to be trusted? After all it was his fault that Ba Sing Se was under Fire Nation control.

Jin listened as she served tea at the tea shop where Lee and his uncle had once worked. Still she had heard nothing about them, nor her brother, mother or father. Still she as she worked clearing tables she strained her ears for any clue from the vast clientele that were attracted to the shabby tea shop. However for all her efforts all she heard were the most disturbing whispers. _Sozin's comet is returning. The Fire Nation is planning something. The Fire Lord wants to burn the Earth Kingdom into ashes. _

* * *

A month more had passed. Change was in the air. Fear charged the air, as the date of Sozin's comet approached closer. Would Ba Sing Se be spared or was the Fire Nation bent on total annihilation? No more news about the Avatar, though some stranger stories had seeped through the walls despite the best efforts of the Fire Nation. _The water bender and Fire Nation Prince attacked the Southern Raiders. She bent the captain's blood, made him completely helpless. She was in search of her mother's murder. _Jin couldn't help feel joy in the brutality shown to the Fire Nation Captain. He deserved it. The Southern Raiders were notorious for their ravages of the South Pole and the Southern Earth Kingdom. The Souther Raiders burnt her home. She was glad that cruel justice had met them.

'Jin, dear,' her landlady called to her. 'Would you mind running this place until I come back?'

'Sure, how long will you be gone?' Jin asked surprised. Her landlady had never left before and there was no place to go with the Fire Nation's tight control.

'Only a few days hopefully,' her landlady replied, her eyes exceptionally deep, as she fondled a scrolled up letter with a broken seal of a white lotus not unlike the Pai Sho piece. 'However in the case I do not return, this establishment is yours. The papers under the loose floor board in my room.'

'Wait, where are you going?' Jin asked fearfully. Her landlady was her one mentor, her one rock to cling to in the fire; her only family left, even if they were not strictly related.

'The time for change has come my golden one. Do not be afraid,' her landlady replied putting a calming hand on Jin's shoulder.

'Please come back safely,' Jin whispered as her landlady left through the front door carrying only a single sack.

* * *

Sounds of victory surrounded Jin as she hugged her landlady. This time there were no rumors -only jubilant news spoken freely on the streets. Yesterday on what should have been the darkest day, the day of Sozin's Comet, Ba Sing Se had been taken back by the mysterious Order of the White Lotus. Ironically they were led by General Iroh, Dragon of the West, the same man who had failed to conquer Ba Sing Se eight years previously.

Today news of the Fire Lord's defeat at the hands of the Avatar buzzed around. Apparently the Fire Lord still lived but without his bending. Somehow the Avatar had managed to take away the Fire Lord's bending, preventing him from ever harming any else. From the Fire Nation capital messenger hawks delivered the news that Prince Zuko and the water bender had defeated Princess Azula. This news was accompanied by the orders from the newly crowned Fire Lord that the Fire Nation Military was to follow the orders of General Iroh. Ba Sing Se was officially no longer occupied.

The strangest thing though was the Fire Nation soldiers joined in the celebrations. They were relieved too that this war was over. Jin had never realized that they were men too, who had families at home. As she returned to serving tea, she learned that most were conscripts only fighting because the lives of their families were in danger if they were pegged as traitors. For the first time she realized that the Fire Nation was just as victim to the Fire Lord as the Earth Kingdom as she listened to tales of famine and polluted rivers - direct results of the Great War. One soldier insisted that the Avatar, and his bending friends helped destroy a military factory and clean the river his town depended on while pretending to be the Painted Lady, the traditional protectress of the town.

Yet her heart remained trouble. She still had no idea where her family was, nor did she know of Lee and his uncle's fates. Has prisons were opened, many missing people returned. Still many were still gone. Hopefully in the coming days they would return to her.

* * *

A few weeks later, Jin sat in her humble room. This time however her mother and father had been returned to her. Only in the past week had her father been well enough to leave the Infirmary that had been set up to treat the many people who suffered under the occupation. His only lingering wound was a broken leg that was splintered and bound. With proper care it should be completely healed in a few more weeks.

Jin no longer worked at the tea shop. Instead she worked full time for her landlady, who declared she was too old to continue to run the establishment. Her parents occupied now the room next hers, and were in search of a home to call their own in the Middle Ring. Her father had gained a reputation of being a good doctor in the secret prisons below in the catacombs, helping others until his illness prevented him. Life was looking up for Jin.

Still her brother was missing and she had no news of Lee or his uncle. Their tea shop however had been cleaned out. The walls had been repainted, and the sign repaired. The windows were replaced and looking in three days before, Jin saw that all the smattered china was gone. Someone else must have taken ownership of the Jasmine Dragon. And she knew that whoever it was, they would never be able to prepare tea like Lee's uncle.

'Message for Jin,' a Fire Nation solider carrying a sealed scroll with a seal not unlike the one on the letter her landlady had held only two months previous.

Jin was paler than normal as she descended the same rickety stairs. Fire Nation messengers only meant one thing. Someone close to you was never coming home again. As the last prisons were opened, a massive effort was made to bring any information possible to loved ones.

'Are you Jin?' the Fire Nation soldier asked kindly. When Jin couldn't answer but nodded instead he gave her a smile - odd- and gingerly placed the scroll in her hands.

With shaking hands Jin moved towards the door for better lighting and opened the letter breaking the seal. After skimming the contents, Jin grabbed the doorframe for support.

'Are you all right?' the Fire Soldier asked mildly placing a steading hand on Jin's shoulder.

'_Lee is alive? He's the Fire Lord? No this can't be. This has to be some cruel joke,_' Jin thought taking deep calming breathes she spoke her mind to the Fire Nation soldier.

'This is no joke madam, I saw the Fire Lord seal it himself,' the soldier assured her.

'But this invites me to the Earth Kingdom Palace,' Jin protested in disbelief.

'The Fire Lord wishes to speak to you again. And there is someone else there for you,' the Fire Nation soldier said with a smile. This girl was the same age as his own daughter back home, a daughter he had not seen in far too long. 'I believe your brother was released from the Boiling Rock. Also I believe General Iroh would like to extend this invitation to the landlady of this establishment'

Jin called her mother and father from across the street. They quickly excused themselves from the Medical Center where they both worked temporarily, and joined Jin and their landlady in the carriage alongside the Fire Nation soldier. Jin thanked the spirits. Never had she dreamed that the war would be over, nor that she would be so blessed. Riding through the streets of Ba Sing Se, Jin realized that hope was finally in her grasp. For the first time in months the doubts and fears left her.

* * *

Several years passed since that fateful day, and still everyday Jin thanked the Spirits for the gifts she had bestowed upon her. She now managed the Jasmine Dragon for General Iroh, who taught her many secrets in the art of making tea. She had been blessed with a strong son. Jin had not married Zuko who instead married Lady Mai, but rather an Earth Bender who Zuko had initially introduced her to - Haru.

She was neither bitter nor resentful when she learnt of Mai and the two oddly were good friends. That is after Mai warned her of the consequences if she tried to steal Zuko away from her. While her story was not as well known as the beloved war heroes, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee, she found great joy and peace in being one of their friends.

She no longer lived with her landlady, though she saw plenty of her as her landlady had become a regular visitor to the Jasmine Dragon. Jin fondly remembered the day she was inducted into the Order of the White Lotus alongside the war heroes as she fondled with her own Pai Sho piece. Pulling herself back to the present she smiled upon her wealthy clienteles and continued the simple work of serving tea.


End file.
